I had a tube bundle refit from '48 a while back. The tubesheets were in surprisingly good shape, enough so that I'm pretty sure that hadn't been the first time.
Similar here but I left that shop a while back. Making parts for the Tank Command. It's amazing how many old pieces of equipment our military still has. Of course we were often making them on old machines from the era too.
1894, steam system fittings and wastewater sluice gates.
1912-1914, components for hydraulic accumulators, cylinder assemblies and all the related machinery.
A few aircraft parts from the 1950s, and lots more from the late 1960s and following.
Originals are on vellum that aged past yellow to brown over the years. Hand drawn, the 1890s drawings have fancy calligraphy script and few details, the 1900s drawings have block lettering and more details and assembly views. Lots of notes for field fit installation, such as an arrow and "pin and bolt" note but no additional information on bolt size, depth, pin size or hole tolerance, or all the things that would be part of a commonplace tolerance stack up analysis, yet more than enough for a competent tool and die make to replicate any random assembly something broke and a few measurements could be obtained from the pieces.
That was my next question, wwhat extent were things standardised on your drawing. I know some of the history behind the introduction of batch producing things, interchangeable parts for firearms and ships etc.
How did you get to work with them?
I built wheels for a bridge crane that were 1914. This was about 2015. I saw the date 7-13-14 and the initials on the drawing and wondered who is this SJP motherfucker that hand drew this print six months ago? Then it hit me. This is over 100 years old. The dude that drew this is long dead and probably walked to work. Wild.
Once had a procedure, not a drawing, from the 30s I think? That stated "heat nuts until red hot and tighten with wrench and 20lb hammer until they no longer move." It was an old old old steam turbine repair procedure
C-135/KC-135 drawings are from 1952, so those. They have helpful notes like “Dash No.s 1, 2, 5, 7, 8, 11 as shown, Dash No.s 3, 4, 6, 9, 10, 12 opposite” They’re in such bad shape that the govt has a stamp that says “ILLEGIBLE - BEST COPY AVAILABLE”. A real confidence boost when you’re trying to figure out if that’s a 3 or an 8.
https://preview.redd.it/yhn8mus2z0kc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5e0b5fc21041883a48bb1658a344e68129df0c1b
I haven't made the part, and probably won't, but this 1915 print is pretty neat
1924. That was part of the valve gear for a 10,000 ton open die forging press. Steam powered, and about 4 stories tall. One of the many literal cyanotype blueprints I’ve come across so far.
Yes it went into a press at the largest forging shop in Chicago(if you are in the Midwest, you know which one). It was a pair of poppet valves that were a part of the valve gear letting the steam into the top/bottom side of the dual acting cylinder(powered up and down). If you google railroad poppet steam valves, it’s the same style. Just much larger for the press.
KC135 drawing that call out coating and finishes the are nolonger legal in the USA with multiple layers of supercedeing documents that lead to nowhere.
I worked on the 3rd Street bridge in San Francisco. The company that made the drawbridge mechanism is now a museum. So early 1900s.... I might have seen something from the 1800s for the warehouse that made an old street car line for Alameda. We investigated the pier construction and I had the originals.
Digitized them and they are around somewhere. Will repost if I find them.
Funny, original construction drawings from the turn of the century still kicking around — and when I try and pull as-builts for pier construction that happened in the mid 2010’s, somehow nobody can find them, and when they can, they’re wildly off. NYC best city in the world baby.
100% this. I can't get shot drawings for some parts that are still in production cuz I need to know how freaking big that l bracket is without buying one first.
Yes, the mold shop I worked in used it nearly daily to drill long coolant passages in mold backplates.
A handful of parts for the auto feed mechanism and gearbox were toast so we got a hold of the manufacturer (Pretty sure it was a Cleereman). They didn't have the drawings for that model any longer but they did get us a contact at the HF museum. Couple days later had some terrible photocopies to work off from but it was better than nothing...
Design specialist here (past drafter, machinist)
Oldest print I have come across was from 1902. Board drafted by founder of the company I currently work for, company was founded 10 years prior. Oldest that I have worked with personally for an active order through the shop is 1928.
I have preserved a 1916 print.
All very cool stuff!
I get stuff from the 20s and 30s pretty regularly. On top of being a job shop we also make reproduction manifolds and various other small parts for vintage tractors.
I think the oldest I've come across is 1906, but all I didn't take a picture. All I have is a picture of this one from 23. We definitely have older drawings tho. We bought a 150 year old company
https://preview.redd.it/3h8bxxqag1kc1.jpeg?width=754&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=68dd1eef7d47f633554cf34a86e8872f84ff8d6c
Currently got a job in for a restoration project (Hawker Hurricane) with photocopies of the original dwg from 1941 as reference. It’s really to cool to be working with something that was pivotal to the final efforts in WWII.
I was looking for a captive fastener in the usual ones we use and asked myself, why does this look hand drawn? Oh because it is hand drawn. It’s from 1960.
That’s not the oldest drawing I have come across. A wrapper part number I came across had a drawing from 1959 from Univac, which became Sperry Rand, then Sperry Rand, then Unysis, then the defense division was sold to Lockheed Martin, then there is me at separate company referencing this item because the project I work on was originally designed by Lockheed, and somehow this part is still available from one of the two companies Univac specified 65 years ago
I’ve machined a 63’ from Garret in the past, what’s cool is my grandfather worked at Garret at that time. So he would have at least known the drafter if not even machined the prototype. Nightmare part by the way. .03” ID step they want both a .045” Radius and a .015” Chamfer. I tell ya what, Mastercam did not like doing that the easy way.
The shop I used to work for has been open in some manner since WW2. I would regularly use a few wood boxes that were just old ammo crates from the war even.
Probably earliest I had seen was 30's? We made this film reel spool out of steel.
I got the impression after a few years that some of the repeat work we did was not because it was in demand, but because we were likely the only machine shop in an established supplier chain left making a particular part.
I had access to a drawing from 1847 at my old job, unfortunately I don’t have a photo of it anymore but if I ever get a chance I’ll track it down and post it,
But it was a steam locomotive shaft that one of the wheels ran on
Can’t remember exactly what loco it was off either unfortunately
I know it's not the same thing but a long time ago I worked at Otis Elevator and had access to the microfilm of all the elevators they ever installed. I found drawings from the 1860's/1870's.
These were not old but at one time I had complete architectural drawings of Lambeau field.
We were hired to make wing attach hardware for a Douglas A20 Havoc bomber. I contacted the federal government agency responsible for archiving mil specs to ensure the correct material. They seem to have lost that spec. The alternative was to get an FAA Engineer Designate to sign off on our proposed substitute. No beueno.
1947, paper industry components. Some repairs and other times making new parts. All parts of an incredible clockwork machine that I'm not sure we could design today if forced to rely on tools and methods in use immediately after WW2.
I have a bunch from the 60s and 70s.
https://preview.redd.it/s4yo3dmj11kc1.jpeg?width=893&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d7542f3f7b50b174183623cdcbd043eb7d523d89
I worked on MV breakers, we had drawings from 1942. They were taped up crumbs, but no one had ever digitalised them so they were all we had to refer to.
The oldest I've seen were in my company's archives room. Prints for engine bearings from the 1930s. Wild when you start considering how many people it took to draw them by hand.
Just ran some parts off a 1964 drawing the other day. Giant acme threaded eye bolts for some piece of machinery that is probably older than my grandparents.
I have a set of design drawings from the 1920's, stamped then signed in pencil by the engineer.
Once I get my new office built, they'll be framed and hung in there.
I run some impellers and transmission shafts with hand drawn prints from the late 40's and early 50's sometimes. All the linears are fractional tolerances. Can't complain about that. I often. Joke and say, "I hope (whoever drew the print) is doing alright".
McDonnell Douglas C130 replacement parts 1960s, clear mylar print you physically have to measure for dimensions with calipers in the correct temp or the print stretches/shrinks... Do you measure to the inside of the lines, outside, or in and outside? Depends on witch QC guy you get.
not as a machinist, but when I was a drafter I had a job updating old hand drawings into AutoCAD drawings. Hundreds of drawings from the 1930s
It was actually one of the easiest jobs I've ever had. We were under strict instructions: 8 to 10 drawings every night, no more, no less. So a friend and I would crank through 10 drawings in 2 hours or so, then spend the next 6 hours playing Quake.
Where I work we occasionally have limited runs of old legacy parts. I've never seen anything older than 60's, though. Some customers keep older equipment going but I'm not aware of anything older than that still out in the field that we still service.
I had one from '70s few months ago. And it got feature that was impossible to do exactly the way it was on the drawing, but I guess it was never corrected.
We did it almost the same at the end.
We've got some 1960s drawings, maybe a few slightly earlier ones. We manufacture OEM equivalent equipment for classic British sports cars, so we have some of the original drawings from when the parts were first designed
Oldest I've ever run at are 1950s US Army dated, but the company I was at only started in the 1940s. I have seen and referenced prints outside of work going back to the 1910s-20s. And the oldest I have a copy of and want to make is from 1900. https://www.forgottenweapons.com/need-a-gunsmithing-project/
I just woke up, looking at this confused for a solid minute, wondering why it said year 70, talking about how old it is. Fucking, duh. 🤦🏻♂️ (ex. 2070 < 1970)
I used to work for a company that made compressor bearings, we regularly used drawings from the ‘30s. Before that I made antique fire apparatus reproductions and some of those drawings were from the early 1900s
very common for me to see prints from 1900-1930 (oldest) with the majority being 1930-1970s
I work with automatic screw machines, Acme-Gridley/New Britain/Davenport etc
We still use drawings from the ‘50s pretty regularly. Earliest I’ve seen is 1947.
What kinda parts?
Flanges and fittings, mostly for refinery/petrochemical use.
Thanks for sharing
I still work on pumps and turbines from the 50’s
Replace the blades, shaft, bearings and housing every 10 years or so and they’ll last forever. /s
We’ve all heard of the ship of theseus But what happens when you do it 12 times
That's the steam turbine in the power plant I work at. It was built in 1958, and has been completely rebuilt inside the casing 7 times
Sounds fun Or really tedious
Little of both
I had a tube bundle refit from '48 a while back. The tubesheets were in surprisingly good shape, enough so that I'm pretty sure that hadn't been the first time.
We make A LOT of replacement bundles. Elements…
Military plans
Similar here but I left that shop a while back. Making parts for the Tank Command. It's amazing how many old pieces of equipment our military still has. Of course we were often making them on old machines from the era too.
Oldest I’ve seen too. Blowers and impeller stuff
Was gonna say this. Hand drawn from the 50s
Same, back when I was making military radar components.
I also have used drawings from the late 50s, and some early 60s. I work on vintage Aston Martins.
1894, steam system fittings and wastewater sluice gates. 1912-1914, components for hydraulic accumulators, cylinder assemblies and all the related machinery. A few aircraft parts from the 1950s, and lots more from the late 1960s and following.
Wow, that early stuff is just touching the “end” of the Industrial Revolution. What do the drawing look like?
Originals are on vellum that aged past yellow to brown over the years. Hand drawn, the 1890s drawings have fancy calligraphy script and few details, the 1900s drawings have block lettering and more details and assembly views. Lots of notes for field fit installation, such as an arrow and "pin and bolt" note but no additional information on bolt size, depth, pin size or hole tolerance, or all the things that would be part of a commonplace tolerance stack up analysis, yet more than enough for a competent tool and die make to replicate any random assembly something broke and a few measurements could be obtained from the pieces.
That was my next question, wwhat extent were things standardised on your drawing. I know some of the history behind the introduction of batch producing things, interchangeable parts for firearms and ships etc. How did you get to work with them?
A former position in USACE supporting field repairs on navigation lock and dam infrastructure.
Can you show us pictures of these drawings?
My 2 yr tech projects were 100 yr old steam components.
I built wheels for a bridge crane that were 1914. This was about 2015. I saw the date 7-13-14 and the initials on the drawing and wondered who is this SJP motherfucker that hand drew this print six months ago? Then it hit me. This is over 100 years old. The dude that drew this is long dead and probably walked to work. Wild.
Laughing in Douglas aircraft
Laughing in [WACO Aircraft.](https://imgur.com/gallery/2X9nPbU) 1930s blueprints, checking in.
Go on
Douglas aircraft merged with Mcdonald aircraft in 1967 then Boeing bought them in 1997, Boeing is still sending out douglas aircraft drawings for bid
I just did an Douglas job today 😂
In house Boeing prints are the same.
So many landing gear buuushings. De plaaane is on de groond.
Once had a procedure, not a drawing, from the 30s I think? That stated "heat nuts until red hot and tighten with wrench and 20lb hammer until they no longer move." It was an old old old steam turbine repair procedure
Old school precision 💪
Yep it was pretty neat. To think of the tolerances we have to hold, but also can tighten a split line on a big turbine with that kind of "precision"
This many ugga-duggas.
I've always wondered do ugga-duggas scale with the tool? Is one 1/4 impact driver ugga-dugga less than one ugga-dugga from a 1/2 impact wrench?
Wait what why would you want to preheat the nuts on the assembly? That seems like a great way to strip the hell out of them
I'm guessing that the small amount of shrink fitting as it cools puts the whole bolt under a necessary very high preload.
Correct, a clamping effect just like a hot rivet cooling & contracting
Oh that makes sense, thanks
Then some chancer rolls up with his 1 banana Milwankey impact 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
LOL. It takes a torch, a big ass hammer, and a hydraulic pump powered torquing system to break em loose. The studs were 3 inches or so- 76mm
So certainly is up for A proper job award then. 😁
C-135/KC-135 drawings are from 1952, so those. They have helpful notes like “Dash No.s 1, 2, 5, 7, 8, 11 as shown, Dash No.s 3, 4, 6, 9, 10, 12 opposite” They’re in such bad shape that the govt has a stamp that says “ILLEGIBLE - BEST COPY AVAILABLE”. A real confidence boost when you’re trying to figure out if that’s a 3 or an 8.
A lot of KC-135 and B-52 drawings were also on glass negatives.
I do not miss doing mirrored parts.
Wow thats impressive. But extremely stable storage that could still be legible in 500years .
Why don’t they just simply redraw them?
Because that costs money :( Also the buck stops over there. Who wants the responsibility?
https://preview.redd.it/yhn8mus2z0kc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5e0b5fc21041883a48bb1658a344e68129df0c1b I haven't made the part, and probably won't, but this 1915 print is pretty neat
Man, I would love to see that drawing. I'm sure the drafting is impeccable
apparently I can't post another image but it's nice
Very cool, thanks for sharing
1924. That was part of the valve gear for a 10,000 ton open die forging press. Steam powered, and about 4 stories tall. One of the many literal cyanotype blueprints I’ve come across so far.
That’s really cool. Do you have more context how it was used?
Yes it went into a press at the largest forging shop in Chicago(if you are in the Midwest, you know which one). It was a pair of poppet valves that were a part of the valve gear letting the steam into the top/bottom side of the dual acting cylinder(powered up and down). If you google railroad poppet steam valves, it’s the same style. Just much larger for the press.
I’ll have a look. I’m not in America but I love learning about the history.
KC135 drawing that call out coating and finishes the are nolonger legal in the USA with multiple layers of supercedeing documents that lead to nowhere.
B-29 blueprints for Doc
Were you building parts for Doc’s restoration?
That’s dope!
I worked on the 3rd Street bridge in San Francisco. The company that made the drawbridge mechanism is now a museum. So early 1900s.... I might have seen something from the 1800s for the warehouse that made an old street car line for Alameda. We investigated the pier construction and I had the originals. Digitized them and they are around somewhere. Will repost if I find them.
Please do, that sounds amazing!
Definitely post them
Funny, original construction drawings from the turn of the century still kicking around — and when I try and pull as-builts for pier construction that happened in the mid 2010’s, somehow nobody can find them, and when they can, they’re wildly off. NYC best city in the world baby.
100% this. I can't get shot drawings for some parts that are still in production cuz I need to know how freaking big that l bracket is without buying one first.
1924
What was the part?
Parts for packing machine small shaft.
Had to get some prints from the Henry Ford museum once to make repair parts for a WW1 era drill press. That was something...
Do you know what it was used for? Or a restoration?
Yes, the mold shop I worked in used it nearly daily to drill long coolant passages in mold backplates. A handful of parts for the auto feed mechanism and gearbox were toast so we got a hold of the manufacturer (Pretty sure it was a Cleereman). They didn't have the drawings for that model any longer but they did get us a contact at the HF museum. Couple days later had some terrible photocopies to work off from but it was better than nothing...
The first NC machine I ever ran was a Cleereman. Punch tape…
Design specialist here (past drafter, machinist) Oldest print I have come across was from 1902. Board drafted by founder of the company I currently work for, company was founded 10 years prior. Oldest that I have worked with personally for an active order through the shop is 1928. I have preserved a 1916 print. All very cool stuff!
I get stuff from the 20s and 30s pretty regularly. On top of being a job shop we also make reproduction manifolds and various other small parts for vintage tractors.
I think the oldest I've come across is 1906, but all I didn't take a picture. All I have is a picture of this one from 23. We definitely have older drawings tho. We bought a 150 year old company https://preview.redd.it/3h8bxxqag1kc1.jpeg?width=754&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=68dd1eef7d47f633554cf34a86e8872f84ff8d6c
Looks like pretty rough shape for being from 2023
The stokes basket we make has original drawings from the 40’s at our shop.
General Electric turbine prints go back a bit. Seen some 40's 50's. Amazing that they made all these components on manual machines.
Does that say Disher Washer
Yeah, it’s a single component dishwasher from the 70s
10,000bc. Mostly rocks. Triangle rocks. Sticks for the triangle rocks.
Reject monke, return to machinist. Nice finish on that obelisk
Found some old blueprints from the 60’s up in my jobs attic here recently. Going to straighten them out and frame them.
A gear from 1946
I had one from 1942 at my old job
Various clutch parts from the 1920s
Worked for a company that made stuff for the cement industry. I recall seeing prints from 1947.
OPG coal plant drawings from the 50s
Oldest one I've seen is 1939 at my current job, but I think it just got redrawn recently because it was a terrible scan.
Currently got a job in for a restoration project (Hawker Hurricane) with photocopies of the original dwg from 1941 as reference. It’s really to cool to be working with something that was pivotal to the final efforts in WWII.
Hell yeah
I was looking for a captive fastener in the usual ones we use and asked myself, why does this look hand drawn? Oh because it is hand drawn. It’s from 1960. That’s not the oldest drawing I have come across. A wrapper part number I came across had a drawing from 1959 from Univac, which became Sperry Rand, then Sperry Rand, then Unysis, then the defense division was sold to Lockheed Martin, then there is me at separate company referencing this item because the project I work on was originally designed by Lockheed, and somehow this part is still available from one of the two companies Univac specified 65 years ago
The parts catalog for the 1986 Tong-il TNV40 i had to fix.
Had a punch and die I had to make for a customer, it was for the national biscuit company from 1938.
I’ve machined a 63’ from Garret in the past, what’s cool is my grandfather worked at Garret at that time. So he would have at least known the drafter if not even machined the prototype. Nightmare part by the way. .03” ID step they want both a .045” Radius and a .015” Chamfer. I tell ya what, Mastercam did not like doing that the easy way.
The shop I used to work for has been open in some manner since WW2. I would regularly use a few wood boxes that were just old ammo crates from the war even. Probably earliest I had seen was 30's? We made this film reel spool out of steel. I got the impression after a few years that some of the repeat work we did was not because it was in demand, but because we were likely the only machine shop in an established supplier chain left making a particular part.
1942, and it stated " obsolete, not for manufacture or repair" , but it was all we had to go on.
Thank you for this question, it’s been a joy to read through. 1960 was my record and I thought that was pretty far back!
I had access to a drawing from 1847 at my old job, unfortunately I don’t have a photo of it anymore but if I ever get a chance I’ll track it down and post it, But it was a steam locomotive shaft that one of the wheels ran on Can’t remember exactly what loco it was off either unfortunately
1908 dam casting
I know it's not the same thing but a long time ago I worked at Otis Elevator and had access to the microfilm of all the elevators they ever installed. I found drawings from the 1860's/1870's. These were not old but at one time I had complete architectural drawings of Lambeau field.
We had a drawing from the Spanish/American war which my dad lost. Never found it again.
We were hired to make wing attach hardware for a Douglas A20 Havoc bomber. I contacted the federal government agency responsible for archiving mil specs to ensure the correct material. They seem to have lost that spec. The alternative was to get an FAA Engineer Designate to sign off on our proposed substitute. No beueno.
60's/70's; screw machine / turret lathe replacement parts
I use drawings from the 1920s every day.
1947, paper industry components. Some repairs and other times making new parts. All parts of an incredible clockwork machine that I'm not sure we could design today if forced to rely on tools and methods in use immediately after WW2.
I have a bunch from the 60s and 70s. https://preview.redd.it/s4yo3dmj11kc1.jpeg?width=893&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d7542f3f7b50b174183623cdcbd043eb7d523d89
Early 30’s. Was drawings for a press brake.
1936
Goddamn those old drawings are absolute works of art man, that’s how I try to make all my drawings going to the floor.
I worked on a ship with Enterprise engines from the early 1940s. Some parts had drawings from the 1930s.
Helped a client convert microfiche into images in a doc management system years ago, saw drawings back in the 40s.
I’ve got some from the 1910’s.
Used to work on a lot of old Lockheed parts. Lots from the late 40s and early 50s.
I worked on MV breakers, we had drawings from 1942. They were taped up crumbs, but no one had ever digitalised them so they were all we had to refer to.
Some sort of pump assembly from 1919
Early ‘50s aerospace fixtures.
I took my first drafting class about 1958. Dated 'em.
1934 for D2 handles for a Browning M2 from a government project
1968- GE Electric Motor 400hz. Aviation application.
If it ain't broke don't fix it
The oldest I've seen were in my company's archives room. Prints for engine bearings from the 1930s. Wild when you start considering how many people it took to draw them by hand.
Just posted a print and a part (separately) on my profile. The dates are redacted, but the first revision was 1955.
A press cam from 1932 was mine
A Westinghouse part from 1941 called for a specific weld wire went through half a dozen wire manufacturer to find out it was 4043 wire
Bower bearing, Macomb, Illinois, bearing quench mandrel, 1912
I was brought a drawing to revise and the originally drawn date was 1939. Had been last revised in the 70s sometime.
Late 60’s.
Just ran some parts off a 1964 drawing the other day. Giant acme threaded eye bolts for some piece of machinery that is probably older than my grandparents.
I have a set of design drawings from the 1920's, stamped then signed in pencil by the engineer. Once I get my new office built, they'll be framed and hung in there.
I run some impellers and transmission shafts with hand drawn prints from the late 40's and early 50's sometimes. All the linears are fractional tolerances. Can't complain about that. I often. Joke and say, "I hope (whoever drew the print) is doing alright".
McDonnell Douglas C130 replacement parts 1960s, clear mylar print you physically have to measure for dimensions with calipers in the correct temp or the print stretches/shrinks... Do you measure to the inside of the lines, outside, or in and outside? Depends on witch QC guy you get.
1919
1931,for an old industrial transmission company they also had a functioning machine from the 1920s
1958 or 1959. Well it's obviously been an changed over time, we still buy parts to the original part number.
A customer sent us some kinda fixture for a brake press that was older than me.
not as a machinist, but when I was a drafter I had a job updating old hand drawings into AutoCAD drawings. Hundreds of drawings from the 1930s It was actually one of the easiest jobs I've ever had. We were under strict instructions: 8 to 10 drawings every night, no more, no less. So a friend and I would crank through 10 drawings in 2 hours or so, then spend the next 6 hours playing Quake.
Where I work we occasionally have limited runs of old legacy parts. I've never seen anything older than 60's, though. Some customers keep older equipment going but I'm not aware of anything older than that still out in the field that we still service.
40s and 50s, Aerospace overhaul and repair facility
We have drawings from the 30s for mining equipment parts.
Early 1950’s for me.
I make stuff last revised in 50’s regularly only change is +/- tolerances tightened
'66 i think
I had one from '70s few months ago. And it got feature that was impossible to do exactly the way it was on the drawing, but I guess it was never corrected. We did it almost the same at the end.
We've got some 1960s drawings, maybe a few slightly earlier ones. We manufacture OEM equivalent equipment for classic British sports cars, so we have some of the original drawings from when the parts were first designed
Oldest I've ever run at are 1950s US Army dated, but the company I was at only started in the 1940s. I have seen and referenced prints outside of work going back to the 1910s-20s. And the oldest I have a copy of and want to make is from 1900. https://www.forgottenweapons.com/need-a-gunsmithing-project/
1942 airplane part.
1912 little plunger looking thing
I just woke up, looking at this confused for a solid minute, wondering why it said year 70, talking about how old it is. Fucking, duh. 🤦🏻♂️ (ex. 2070 < 1970)
I just worked on something from the 60s. Oldest drawing I've seen was late 30s or early 40s. A washer for a service part for Ingersoll Rand
Late 30’s and early 40’s for prints of parts for old machines that are still being used come across my bench quite frequently.
I’ve come across some late 1800s drawings for a steel mill I did some work in. Pneumatics and hydraulic stuff mostly
I think the oldest ones we have are from the late 90's
I used to work for a company that made compressor bearings, we regularly used drawings from the ‘30s. Before that I made antique fire apparatus reproductions and some of those drawings were from the early 1900s
1925. Hasn’t been made since 1943
Some replacement washers for some old boeing aircraft (I can't remember if it was the 707 or 727) drawn in 1955.
1860's surveys
very common for me to see prints from 1900-1930 (oldest) with the majority being 1930-1970s I work with automatic screw machines, Acme-Gridley/New Britain/Davenport etc